when i say that i feel alot like this tree and my world feels alot like this picture, it's not with complaining. solitude is peaceful and open-ended for me. so, in my working persona, i never complain about being single, or even men in general. my kids and family life tends to be the thing going on for me.

at work yesterday, one of the nurses' aides asked me, out of the blue, if i have tried internet dating sites. i said i had a few years ago.

what made her ask me that in the middle of an ordinary 3-11 shift, on an ordinary day in December?

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

earlier today the bookends were here, and we watched Ratatouie for the first time. friendly and heartwarming enough. then we drove to Groton and i delivered marie's makeup roll. she liked it.

now, here by myself, i can watch anthony bourdain as he visits japan during 'cooks tour' without anyone moaning, the phone ringing loudly followed by loud phone conversation, or really ANY other interruptions.

he is eating things that look like biohazard, but tonight, for some reason, i am not repulsed. just mildly interested in a meal that's been eaten long ago by an extremely fortunate cook/author/food-rockstar.

however, the commercial for the simpsons movie.. now that's revolting. i shudder.

still looking for a regular stint. there are some per diem positions available, one of which i will be training for next week. finding 3-11 32hr/week is another story. a DON knows that she can get a foreign RN here for the same wage she must pay someone like me.. hence the 9 month wait for a real job. it's a darn good thing i'm pretty healthy for my age, and i don't need alot of presc. meds.

Fun!! Fun is what I had making this little veggie soup mug. Cara will be using it, and there are more to follow for Mom, Tiffany etc. Yes, I copied... so... thanks PatchworkPottery for the terrific idea!!PatchworkPottery!

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

now that i've figured out the technique, the sky's the limit! for example, i can just make a mirror image and i'll have the top half of a heart. then it's just a matter of making 4 triangles sewing together to make the bottom point of the heart. hmm, or maybe it would be even easier to just make the heart in two halfs?

this block reminded me of a sun coming up into a blue, blue sky. i suppose any manner of thing can be represented .... even a landscape.

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Marie held the jeans up to her waist and said the length was 'gewd' so what did she 'owe' me? Nothing. When I explained that I never hemmed them, just got her the correct size of 11 reg, she said in her phillipino accent "ah, I deedn't know they had other ones..." she's a cutiepie. and um she still doesn't know I cut her original pair of pants. let's not mention it, 'k?

also i had a nice interview on thursday and got the call for hire today. the facility is gorgeous and the staff (some of whom i have already worked with in the past) look competant. i was sleeping, so monday will be call back day. yay!

Friday, November 30, 2007

First of all I wanted to be sick. Right there where I was standing. Then... well, after checking the clock, I got my coat on and drove to the store praying I could find another identical pair of jeans to replace the ones I cut too short.

Lesson learned: measure three times, cut once. After being awake and AWARE for at least half an hour. And two cups of coffee and a shower. No more sleep-sewing.

Actually, I found that the jeans she bought were 'tall' so I got an identical pair of 'regular' jeans and will see if she even realizes that they're a different jean. Knowing my friend, she didn't even see that the style she chose comes in tall, reg. and short. If she in fact DOES realize they're a different pair, I'll give her the money for the jeans and call it a day.

I guess it oould be worse. They could have been 150 dollar designer jeans.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

nowadays i am going thru projects alot faster than ever. why? partly b/c i am trying to get things made and delivered in a timely manner. ideas are also flowing easier too. i saw a man's land end shirt in red plaid and then a few minutes later a woman's silky nightgown, in a red and black sexy floral. when i got them home i realized i could use them together. the plaid looks like taffeta and the nightgown is silky, sorta. it might work.

here are my little zippy bags, as promised. one is square with an olive green zipper and one is a flat bottomed pouch with a hot pink zipper.

the embroidered tablecloth was a project my aunt mary handed to me when i was 14. i can't believe that after 2 dozen moves and 4 kids, i still have it. it's stained and falling apart, so i will need to transform it soon... perhaps into a tote bag?

the best thing about today was finding out that Cara will be allowed to substitute for the teachers aides at the magnet school from now on. YAY! yet another reason to be proud of her. :)

also...today confirmed my fear... i can NOT sew during the day before i am going to work third shift.

after making a quick trip to new london (Cara needed items that she forgot here at home, so i brought them to her job) i came straight home and began sewing up a demo makeup zip bag to bring to work this evening. it looks great. earthy tone geometric on the outside and rootbeer floats and sundeas on the cotton liner fabric inside. no pattern, just the tutorial i saw a link to @ flickr. this one is nice and formed/firm cuz i used stiff sew-in bonding. and now i'm not tired. even after a big bowl full of beef barley stew.

i'll have to stick to housework and errends before night shift. color me disappointed.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

We'll be announcing the winners later this week, but I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for submitting your awesome apron! (And your daughter for modeling :-) We're overwhelmed with the response to the contest; it's fantastic that the apron is enjoying such a renaissance...

investigating apartments and my ny lic will had to wait. yesterday was a holiday. no answers. the day wasn't a total waste. i made a plastic covered square zip bag, with underwater scene fabric. it looks like a little aquarium. then i folded and inserted a pretty aqua and sealife pattern stretch baby blanket, and it is waiting to go to miami, for Gia. my guess is she will bite it, and missy can wipe it off with disinfectant wipes.

right now i guess the best thing would be to make arrangements to rent an apartment for a week in nyc. craigslist and tripadvisor will assist. maybe in april?

Sunday, November 11, 2007

i dunno why but i have been wanting so badly to move to nyc lately. in 2002 or 03 my cousin left there and moved from her NICE rent controlled 3br apt. in bronx to sobe miami.. meaning i have no family there. why do i just want so very much to say that for a little while at least i had a nyc address and life?

maybe my mother's heart is breaking to go back there, but she can't ever go back, so i am having sympathy cravings in her place. she only ever loved it there. even bartending at Lamps' during the late 40's wasn't as much fun as parts of her youth in brooklyn.

what i know is:

only emotionally grown up people move from here to nyc.

and.. now all my kids are over 18. now i can't avoid being a grown up any longer, so if i must be grown, let me live with the other grown up people.

monday i will find out about a new york state nursing lic. and email my cousin, who is trying to dump her expensive sobe condo and come back to connecticut with the baby.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

i already have orders for green and/or red aprons from the girls at work! yipee! the only little problem is that i slept just 4 hours today. then tiffany wanted to go see The Bee Movie @ 4:15 in Lisbon Landing. http://www.beemovie.com long story short is i'm pooped and all i managed to do was make some homemade mac n cheese and then cut out 1.5 aprons.

i adjusted the shapes of the pieces a little. side panels are more generous, and longer. the center panel is longer and has a rounded bottom. i'm going to put black rickrack along the bottom center panel (made with the red and white peppermint stripe fabric in the pic). then at the top of the bib i will add snow white eyelet instead of gingham ruffles.

i got 0.5yards of the center panel fabrics and it looks like it will be exactly enough. somehow i need to figure out the total amount of fabric i need for the black panels. it's near to 0.66yards.

also, it's important for me to figure out a way to finish all the seams if i'm going to be charging for it.

Friday, November 09, 2007

here's my girl looking too cute in my craftzine apron. it's fairly simple, could be worn by any age and original. i will DEFINATELY be making more like it. Tiffany can look adorable in a brown paper bag. *love love love* my littlest girl.

you see the bottom of an apron i am nearly done making. i tried the simple beginning lessons for 'making a pattern' from my new book 'making sewing patterns' and so far so good. i wanted it to have a country french feel and i think it sorta does.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

"know there are lots of wonderful homemade aprons out there, and we want to see them. Taunton books has generously offered a copy of Prairie Girl to each of the five winners, and we'll be featuring the aprons in the Curio section of the next issue of CRAFT. Send photographs of the aprons you've been working on to curio[at]craftzine[dot]com by November 12th. (Be sure to include your website or Etsy shop!)"

Sunday, November 04, 2007

majorly exhausted after doing the work of 2 people literally. need rest. will sew and post some time later this week. added more to the cache, ordered japanese fabric and retro kiddie prints. fun will indeed be had by me eventually, perhaps on the 12th. better go to bed before i order some of those sparkley things on hsn.

when i signed up to work the overnights every Friday and then back to work 8 hours later every Saturday afternoon, etc. I wasn't sure how it would turn out. being totally exhausted was never fun, back when I worked this way alot, nor is the idea of it attractive now. burning eyes, slight headache, that strung out feeling, quite unpleasant. but... i'm glad i tried it. every sunday morning feels like a wonderful gift, and my days off are stuck together so that i am truely READY to get back to work on friday. win/win situ. now, for another cup of coffee before i have to shower and git.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

while watching the show about Charles Schultz, i suddenly remembered that my Mom said she didn't think he was a very nice man. she expressed this by pulling a face, not by directly stating her reason at that time. by the end of the show, i realized she might have been right. the only thing she said about it was "he never let's Charlie kick the football."

Make a 1/4" hem by folding under 1/4" of the fabric and then folding over again, enclosing all raw edges of piece "A", iron under 1/4" on all sides and stitch.

"B" Pieces- Hem the same way on the two short sides and one long side, leaving one 33" side unsewn. Repeat with all 4 pieces.

Working on the right side of the fabric, using long machine stitches, stitch along the unsewn side at 1/4" and again 1/8" in seam allowance. Pull threads to adjust gathers. Starting on the bottom, pin the top edge of the ruffle to the wrong side of the fabric on piece "A" at about 1" up from the bottom. Wrap the gathering threads around the pin. Adjust gathers to fit across and pin piece down on opposite side. Stitch over the gathers to keep in place.

Sew the next ruffle ("B") to piece "A" about 4 1/2" above the top of the previously sewn ruffle, making sure the top ruffles overlaps the bottom ruffle by about an inch. Repeat with remaining ruffles.

Once the ruffles are sewn on, you should have about 1 1/2" of piece "A" left at the top.

yesterday was spent working on a size 6 girls mod princess cut dress. i got a mod looking fabric from joann's. the only part i struggled with was the facing for the neck and arm holes because i forgot to clip the curved seam allowance. putting a zipper in correctly is still a challenge but i'm getting better. i realized that i sewed the collar on wrong. so i fixed that. i'll be able to put it on etsy.com. for 22.00 and if i don't sell it i'll give it to my friend Iris. she has 3 little girls.

so i'm wondering today: is it normal for me to go back and totally rip out stuff, redo it until it's perfect now when that has NOT been my habit with crafts in the past. what changed? what has caused me to be more patient and methodical about fixing my mistakes? does this happen to everyone that sticks with an artsy hobby?

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

sitting in this chair for hours under a blanket didn't make me feel better. so i dragged out my sockmonkey bag and ripped the entire thing out, lining and all. then i reconstructed it to be more of a deep flat bottomed tote bag. the brown tie is still making the handles, but it's definately better this way.

have a cold coming on. tummy's not good. i hate this helpless feeling that i have in the early part of getting sick. i'm going to stay under a blanket tonight. the bank account is getting smaller and they need me at work tonight but i can't go in. i'll be back in a few days.

Friday, October 26, 2007

One of the vintage apron patterns I ordered from etsy.com came in the mail today. Actually, it came a few days ago, but the mailman didn't feel like walking half a flight up to my door and knock and wait, so he brought it BACK to the post office downtown and made me go and get it. Whatta turd.

Here is a pic of the first thing I've made from it. I got fabric from Walmart for around 2 bux each. I love love love it.

Monday, October 22, 2007

we went to nyc today, on a whim. i was actually planning to drive (2.5 hours) to the Bronx and have bbq at Mogridders. on our way toward new haven i suddenly realized that i might get stuck in rush hour traffic on the way home.

plan b. park in new hven and take metro north. so we did. much fun, and hot pastrami (from carnagie deli) ws had by all.

http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=932708422&channel=156457828 here is a link to some priceless quilting tips. haven't learned to do it yet, so i will not be fighting any 'old habits' when i learn the better way.

Friday, October 19, 2007

This is the second weekend in a row that I went all the way to work, wasting gas and energy and putting unnecessary miles on my poor old sedan, just to see that I'm not on that schedule.

Today, in fact, I completely goofed b/c I planned to work a 2nd and 3rd shift when in reality I'm only working 3rd shift.(picture me deflated) Had I realized, my day would have played out much differently, resulting in a spotlessly clean home, organized closets, fresh and tidy car interior and fully filled tires. My checking account would have been balanced to the penny, my mirrors would be shiney and my coffee would be a taste of heaven. There would be a trust fund opened in my name and a library wing added on as well. The clouds would have parted, the sun would have shone and all would have been well, except....

I slept in. And without the advantage of getting up 2 hours earlier, I can be now classified as a complete failure.

At least I got a post in on the ole Bee Lawg. Being adult stu-PID-dd isn't really all bad.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

So, maybe I learned something while teaching? Being a student is the first lesson in teaching anything, and let me say I was definately schooled.

1. Never 'work' for a friend.

a. even if the friend is not a terribly close friend.

b. even if you are convinced they are going to be fair and ethical.

c. even if you are out of steady work and need the money.

2. Teaching in a proper classroom setting is different than 'training.'

a. the more money students pay for the class, the more they seem to feel the grade was bought and not earned.

b. smarter person does not necessarily make a better student.

c. did I mention I realized I had no experience teaching, but lots in training?

3. Feel sorry for anyone who will need to have blood drawn inside on New London County for the next 20 or so years.

a. the phlebotomist student who was/is an volunteer emt USUALLY thinks they already know it all and didn't pay attention in class.

b . going on their test grades, I wouldn't allow them to hand me a bandaid, nevermind poke me with a sharp object.

c. again, pity the poor foo' who needs blood drawn. encourage them to take large amounts of GermAway before having the test done.

So, as you surely have realized by now, I am NOT teaching anything to anyone else. I am simply learning. And that's all I plan to do from now on. Oh, and it would be nice to find a steady job, 32 hours on 3-11. Everywhere I apply isn't calling me back. I'm at the top of the pay scale, and they want the young'uns.

In the mean time, I am teaching myself how to quilt and will be making/selling fantastic one-of-a-kind tote bags pretty quick.

What's the story?

During the past 46 years, I've lived in Connecticut. I've traveled up and around the U.S. and to Puerto Rico, and loved every minute. I've had 4 children who are now fantastically talented adult artists and comedians. I've been married and then divorced and then engaged and then single and finally *big sigh* content. I've grown into a darn good nurse, cook, seamstress, and Mom.